Ex-SIUE student accused of threat out of prison

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — A former student at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville whom prosecutors accused of threatening a murderous rampage has been released from prison after his conviction was overturned.

The Illinois Department of Corrections officials said Olutosin Oduwole (oh-loo-TOH'-sihn oh-DOO'-wawl-ee) was released Monday under court order from a state prison in Jacksonville. Earlier this month an Illinois appeals court threw out the 27-year-old's conviction and five-year prison sentence. The state appellate court ruled prosecutors failed to prove he ever actively tried to convey a threat.

Oduwole was convicted in 2011, after prosecutors argued a piece of paper in his abandoned car in 2007 demanded a murderous rampage would occur if he wasn't paid $50,000.

An aspiring rapper, Oduwole insisted the writings were just innocent lyrics and other musings.